


Mine was a Pint-Sized Psychopath

by lex_kitten97



Series: Mine was a Pint-Sized Psychopath [1]
Category: Reanimator (1985)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, But also still Herbert, Carl Hill is a creep, Dan has a crush on Herbert, Herbert is oblivious, Herbert is the sex object, Hill leches after Herbert instead of Meg, M/M, Retelling of the film
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:48:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9446105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lex_kitten97/pseuds/lex_kitten97
Summary: A retelling of Stuart Gordon's 1985 Reanimator where Herbert is short and determined and Dan might just be falling for him. So is Dr. Hill. Madness ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

The day that Herbert West began his education at Miskatonic University would change the life of young Daniel Cain forever. Daniel was in his third year of being a medical student, which was proving to be a more difficult and pricey endeavor than he’d initially hoped for. He knew that soon he’d once again be begging the dean for more scholarship enrollments. He also knew that he wasn’t at all a bad doctor, and his likelihood to be up for the money was in good odds. Up until recently he had been involved with the dean’s daughter, Meg, but they had decided to wanting different things in life; Meg was transferring from Miskatonic to study law in California, and Dan was set to get his degree right where he was, but damn was it lonely not to have someone by his side to talk to. Dan spent most of his time pushing around dead bodies and running stories through his own head to pass the time.  
     
This particular day, Dan was wandering around a bit for fresh air; he’d lost a patient, and for him there was no worse defeat. He knew that there were plenty of young guys in the field willing to shrug it off and pick up a paycheck, but Daniel Cain would never be one of them.  
     
Hearing a noise from one of the lecture rooms, Dan entered to find Dr. Hill performing a lobotomy; Doctor Carl Hill was very proud of his methods and was no doubt practicing for an upcoming lecture. The man was of a tall, almost Frankenstein-like stature; if he weren’t a doctor, it wouldn’t be hard to be put off by his presence. The room was eerily quiet and Dan cringed watching Hill dip a Q-Tip into the brain, retracting it slowly; some things he would never get used to. A hand on his shoulder made him jerk to attention, his heart skipping a beat as he gasped and spun around.  
     
“I’m sorry Dan,” Dean Halsey laughed. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.” The short, white haired man had always been fond of Dan. He had been nothing but approving of him and Meg being in a relationship and continued to support him even through the break-up.  
     
“It wasn’t too bad, Dean Halsey,” Dan smiled back, calming down. “Just didn’t know anybody was here.” His attention then focused to a fourth figure in the room as it finally spoke, eyeing up a mason jar of brain matter.  
     
“You, me, or anybody else,” the voice was velvety and soft. The young man was at least a head and a half shorter than Dan, hair combed and glasses fitting big on his smaller face. He neatly tucked his hands in his pockets as the dean introduced him to Dan.  
     
“This is Herbert West, he’ll be joining you in your third year,” Dean Halsey looked at the shorter man as he appeared to not be paying much attention to either of them, but rather looking spaced out or perhaps at the cadavers behind them. “He was doing independent research in Switzerland with Hans Gruber shortly before he died.” Dan knew more than a bit about Dr. Gruber; they had been studying Gruber’s theories on the life of the brain in Dr. Hill’s class. The medical world had taken a hit in result of Dr. Gruber’s unexpected and unexplainable death, but he thought maybe he could learn a thing or two about the late doctor from the new student. “Mr. West, this is Daniel Cain; one of Miskatonic Medical’s best young hopes for the future of medicine.”  
     
Dan looked over at West, who was clearly giving his best fake smile as he continued to avoid all eye contact with both of them. Dan had never given the male gender much thought in the past, but he couldn’t help but notice the way the light hit the smaller man’s face. He looked like a bunny the way his nose turned up, and Dan didn’t even want to think about how full his lips were, and the perfect shade of pink… Dan smiled politely at West and held out his hand, always willing to make new friends. “Nice to meet you, may I ask what you were studying?”  
     
Herbert shouldered past Dan’s handshake, eyes fixedly looking ahead. “Death.” Dan put his hand down defeatedly as he looked at the other man with an odd fascination. Herbert was glaring at the body Dr. Hill had been lobotomizing, and he pursed his lips the way a child would when denied candy.  
     
“Hey Alan,” Dr. Hill greeted the dean with a smile. “We don’t see you around here much anymore.”  
     
“Well, I’m giving our new student Herbert West here the not-so-grand-tour,” Hill glanced over at Herbert as if to examine him. If Dan hadn’t been guiltily doing the same, he would have noticed Hill’s subtle scan over Herbert’s body. “This may interest you Carl,” Halsey continued. “He worked with Hans Gruber.” Hill’s gaze was much more pointed now, an interest sparked. Herbert’s back was still turned away from all of them when Halsey pointed at him, “Mr. West, this is our imminent brain researcher and grant machine, Dr. Carl Hill.”  
     
This was when Herbert turned around and looked up. Holy hazel eyes, Dan thought and mentally kicked himself. Herbert didn’t seem very pleased as he calmly looked at Hill. “I know your work Dr. Hill, quite well. Your theory on the location of the will in the brain is...interesting,” he smirked and Carl raised an eyebrow in surprise at the man’s tone. “Though it is derivative of Doctor Gruber’s research in the early seventies; so derivative, in fact, that in Europe it’s considered plagiarized.” Dan bit his lip and looked at the floor, unable to handle the newfound tension in the room. Hill looked pissed off, but held his tongue as Herbert kept pushing. “And your support of the twelve minute limit on the lifespan of the brain after death-”  
     
“Six to twelve minutes,” Hill snapped. “Mr…?”  
     
“West. Herbert West,” he replied curtly. “Frankly Dr...um...Hill, your work on brain death is outdated.” Dean Halsey cleared his throat and glared at the young man for having made a scene while Hill and Dan looked around the room awkwardly. Herbert maintained his composure, not batting an eye at how everyone was responding; merely tilting his head to the side. When Halsey broke the tension by turning and talking to Hill about coming over for dinner, Dan looked over at West again and actually found the small man looking back at him. Dan tried to smile at him, admiring his eyes but West refused to return the kind look.  
     
“I’m looking forward to seeing you in class, Mr. West,” Hill said, smirking at Herbert and heading out of the room. Halsey shot one last look at West before also leaving. Dan watched Halsey leave and by the time the older man was out the door and Dan was ready to talk to West, he was also shooting for the exit. Dan sighed and looked down at the corpse that West had been examining. The hole in the cadaver’s head stared back in finality.

     
On top of the previously established loneliness that came with living alone, there was also the matter of being a student and having a pay a heady rent every month. Now that Meg had moved out of his new place, Dan was on the lookout for another student willing to keep regular hours and maybe even study with him. The young doctor pinned his ad to the message board and sighed; before long he would have to speak to Dean Halsey about his scholarship. At that moment, Herbert West was shuffling down the hallway quickly as Dan turned to leave, bumping right into him. West nearly lost his footing, but quickly straightened his suit and raised his head at Dan.  
     
“Hello Mr. Cain,” West said pertly.  
     
“Mr. West,” Dan greeted. He noticed that West’s eyes were once again looking behind him at something else.  
     
“A roommate, eh,” he stated slowly. “Funny, I happen to be looking for a place to stay,” Herbert did his best to smile humanly up at Dan. “I haven’t exactly had the time to find permanent residence; my things are all still stored in my car.” Behind the thick rims, Herbert’s eyes seemed huge; the bright lights of the school’s hallway did wonders in really bringing them out and Dan had nodded rather quickly. If he were to look back at this moment in ten years, he would say that the eyes really did cloud his better judgement.  
     
“I would love to take you...um, have you...at my place that is! I can never afford it on my own.”

“Well, I would say that it’s settled then,” he actually smiled that time. “Am I right to assume it has a basement?”  
     
“A basement?”  
     
“Yes.” A long pause.  
     
“Well yes.”  
     
“Perfect! You won’t even know that I’m there. Unless, of course, it’s the first of the  month,” he pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and held it out to a very happy looking Doctor Cain.  
     
Dan lead his new roommate back to his place on 666 Darkmore Road, trying his best to make small talk as the other man drove. Dan glanced into the back seat, which was full of textbooks and suitcases; nothing really suspicious. Dan realized he knew next to nothing about this guy, next to the fact that he seemed to be extremely passionate about his work. When they arrived, Herbert made quick to get out and begin carrying his bags.  
     
“Here, let me help you,” Dan smiled and Herbert stiffened.  
     
“Be extremely careful with those,” he snapped, then relaxed his shoulders. “Thank you.” When they got inside the house, Dan’s cat hissed up at Herbert, who also did not seem too pleased to see the other. “Oh lovely, a rodent.”  
     
“That’s my little buddy, Rufus. Come here boy,” Dan set the suitcases down and patted his knee, but Rufus refused to budge.  
     
“Could I see the basement now, Daniel?”  
     
“Yes, of course,” Dan watched Herbert’s eyes light up as they descended the stairs.  
     
“This shall do very nicely.”  
     
“Would you like to see your bedroom too-”  
     
“I will most likely be sleeping down here, so that shouldn’t be necessary.”  
     
“If you’d like, I can whip up some dinner or-”  
     
“That won’t be necessary, I think I would like to be left alone now,” Herbert had already begun to unpack his bags and Dan let him, climbing the stairs and shutting the door behind him.  
     
Well, so much for having a study partner.

    The next day in Dr. Hill’s class, Herbert wasn't taking any notes; he was looking up at Hill with contempt as the older man explained that death was irreversible. Hill kept looking pointedly at Herbert when he said these things, getting a kick out of firing the other up. “Once someone is dead, there are only six to twelve minu-”  
    
 SNAP!  
      
Herbert made a production of snapping his pencil and the whole class turned to look at him as he pulled another one from his sleeve. Hill gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at West.  
     
“We will discuss the location of the will in the brainstem at another time. Mr. West, I suggest you get yourself a pen!...Class dismissed,” Hill shoved equipment into his bag angrily as the students filed out. Dan had closed the door behind him when he heard Herbert shouting inside.  
     
“How could you teach such drivel; these people are here to learn and you’re closing their minds before they even have a chance!”  
     
“What are you doing here, Mr. West? Looking for another mentor to mysteriously murder?”  
     
“How dare you make such a pigheaded accusation! You know, maybe you should have stolen more of Gruber’s ideas; then you’d at least have ideas,” Herbert’s jaw was set as he shouted, defiant and unflinching to anything Hill had thrown at him until the older man grabbed him by the lapel.  
     
“It’s going to be a pleasure to fail you,” he snarled and let Herbert go roughly. Herbert blinked in disbelief before glaring and gathering his textbooks. He stormed right by where Dan was standing. Dan looked back into the room to see Hill running a shaky hand through his hair. 

“Little bitch…” he murmured and pulled a piece of paper from his drawer, looking at it for a few moments and placing it where it had been.  Dan waited for Hill to pass him before sneaking back into his classroom, opening the drawer and pulling out a photo of Herbert that had been clipped from a newspaper. Dan assumed it had come from an article involving the death of Dr. Gruber, as Herbert had been one of few witnesses, but why would Hill keep this in his desk? The drawer was empty albeit the photo and a few used tissues, but Dan closed it and got out before he got caught.

 

    “Oh Dan! H-harder, please!” Dan felt thin legs wrapping around him as he pounded into the pliant body beneath him. “Oh please, give it to me harder!” Dan leaned down to bite at the other’s neck before taking the glasses off of West and setting them on the nightstand. Herbert’s eyes practically glowed bright green despite the darkness of the room, lit only by the thin light streaming through the window.  
     
“God, you’re so gorgeous,” Dan groaned and kissed Herbert passionately, wrapping his arms under West’s back and pulling it flush against him as he felt his climax coming closer and-

    CRASH!

 

Dan jolted awake by a loud banging noise from downstairs. He shot up, holding a hand to his chest after the scare and kicking himself once more for the obvious tent in his pajama pants that he tried to will away. He looked over at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 2:27 am. After he grabbed a baseball bat, Dan leaned his ear against the basement door and heard a loud thump, followed by a scream. “H-Herbert!? Are you alright?”  
       
A loud inhuman shriek, followed by West yelling, “CAIN!!! GET DOWN HERE!!” Dan rushed to his roommate’s rescue. The basement was dark and quiet as he looked around for Herbert. The low growl was heard and Herbert fell into the light, screaming, “GET IT OFF OF ME!!” A ravenous creature clawed at his back, and it looked an awful lot like Rufus. Dan knew the cat hadn’t taken a liking to Herbert, but Christ! West was able to get ahold of the animal and rip it off of him, watching it take off into the dark.  
     
“Hold on, I’ll get it,” Dan said calmly and felt Herbert’s hand gripping his upper arm. He felt his pride swelling a bit before remembering that his cat was also down here and seemed to be a demon. He walked ahead of Herbert to where the cat had been flung. The beast leapt at him and, with inhuman strength, knocked Dan across the room. It clawed at his collar until Dan managed to grab ahold and throw it into the wall, brain matter dripping down from where it had impacted. He slowly walked over to the dead animal, making sure it wasn’t going to attack again. Yes, it was definitely Rufus. He looked back to where West had been cowering against the wall and saw that the other man was still slightly shaking.  
     
“Look out,” Herbert yelled and pointed at the carcass. Dan spun quickly to find that it was still unmoving. The moment that Dan knew he was in danger was when West began to giggle behind him, as if he had just told a hilarious joke as Dan’s cat lay on the floor in pieces. 

    “So...you did what to him?.. You killed my cat…”  
     
    “I did not kill your cat, Daniel; I found him like that. He had gotten his head stuck in a jar and he suffocated, so I figured I would use him as a test subject,” Herbert shrugged casually and poked the remains of the cat with his pencil.  
     
“He wasn’t dead; there is no way he could have been! You lowered his body temperature o-or reduced his vital signs; he couldn’t have been dead.”  
     
“Do you agree that he’s dead now,” Herbert picked up the lifeless cat and dropped it back onto the table pointedly. “Do you agree that he’s dead now??” Dan nodded and watched Herbert pull a strange green chemical from his refrigerator. “What is that?”  
     
“Something that is going to make you believe me, and then you’ll help.”  
     
“Help you!? I’m not sure I understand what I’m dealing with here!” Herbert rolled his eyes and handed Dan his notebook. “ You’ve brought animals back from the dead? You’re serious?...You’ve tried this on people, haven't you?!”  
     
A long silence. “I’ve done all I can here; I’ll need new lab space. You will help me,” Herbert began filling his syringe with the glowing liquid. “This is my reagent,” he licked his bottom lip, inserting the needle into the base of the cat’s neck. After a few seconds, the animal began make a disgusting, scary noise like something from a horror film. 

“Oh my god,” Dan’s jaw dropped. “W-why is it making that noise?”

“Birth is always painful.”

“B-but he was dead!”

“Mmm,” Herbert smiled at Dan. “Twice.” 

 

“I-I can’t believe this. Herbert, this is amazing; do you realize what this could mean for the entire medical field!?” Herbert nodded slowly.

“Well, obviously.”

“I would never have to lose another patient...you're like an angel," Dan cleared his throat, “S-sorry.” Herbert ignored the comment, “Well, all we have to do now is let the dean know so that I may continue my research; he won’t believe me, but I know he’ll believe a bright young man like yourself. It will also be quite nice to stick it to so-called ‘Doctor’ Hill.”  
     
“I will do my best to get you what you need. About Hill, Herbert...I found a photog-what are you doing?” Herbert was shoving the cat into a garbage bag casually as though merely doing chores.  
       
“Well we can't just keep it Dan, I'm dropping it off at the dump. Don't worry, I will find fresh specimens for us to work on tomorrow. Herbert genuinely smiled at Dan and flung the garbage bag over his shoulder, walking out. Dan looked after him in amazement.

   


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There may be a little smut in this chapter! ^-^ I hope this is okay; school has hindered my editing abilities but I do hope you enjoy. Also, fair warning that the tags for this story will be changed when it gets into more creepy Carl Hill stuff; being that you all are familiar with the movie, you get my drift. Comments and feedback are so nice and appreciated <3

“Herbert West has affected reanimation in dead animal tissue!”

Pause.

“What,” Dan asked, puzzled at the dean’s silence. The older man took off his glasses and rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes.

“I expected more of you, mister Cain. I should have known that moving in with Herbert West would have a negative effect on you; ever since he started here he's been nothing but disrespectful to his superiors. Now he has some hairbrained notion that he can bring the dead back to life? He can’t even turn his homework in on time.”

“ Dean Halsey, I know it sounds crazy but I saw it! He brought a cat-a dead cat- back to life! He has this green reagen-” The dean held a hand up to stop him, shaking his head.

“That will be quite enough of that! Mister Cain, you are a very bright young man; but I swear, if any of this medical school’s equipment has been utilized for these crazy experiments of yours, I will be forced to take away your scholarship.” Dan slumped in his seat.

“My scholarship…”

“And you may tell Mr. West that he is no longer a student of this medical school, and he may continue his ‘studies’ elsewhere,” Halsey stood up to leave but Dan got out of his chair and jumped in front of him.

“I can prove it to you! Herbert West is a genius, and he can bring the dead back to life! Please-” 

“I didn't want to do this Dan,” Halsey gathered files off of his desk and tucked them under his arm. “ I am going to have to suspend you from this school until you're willing to be reasonable; I don't want you on these grounds for at least a month. Scholarship revoked.” Halsey pushed passed Dan and out of his office, leaving Dan alone with an impending sense of doom regarding his future.

“Dean Halsey, I don’t understand,” Dan called fruitlessly after him. He had to prove it to all of them that he wasn’t crazy and that, in fact, neither was his roommate.

 

“He did what!?”

“He revoked my scholarship and you no longer go to school here. Herbert, I really tried to help but he just wouldn't listen. He’s always liked me before; I can’t understand why he’s being so unreasonable..”

“Well, we will just have to show him,” Herbert chewed on his pencil in thought. “We will need a specimen of course.”

“What, are we just going to go into someone's home and kill their cat too?”

“No no no Daniel, Dean Halsey will not accept that kind of proof; we need something bigger,” he grinned up at Dan, excitement in his eyes. Dan gulped.

“You mean, like...one of the bodies in the morgue,” Herbert nodded. “That's ridiculous, how are we ever going to sneak in there!?”

Mere hours later, Dan was wheeling a body to the morgue; so far there hadn't been a problem with security. The receptionist had mindlessly waved him along and it seemed as though the other doctors were busy in surgery. Dan looked down to where West’s feet were poking out from under the sheet and smirked, but tapped the gurney when his feet would absently move. “Stop it,” he whispered as they approached the security guard. “Hey Sam,” Dan greeted the guard with a smile.

“Yikes, what happened to this poor bastard,” the guard asked, looking down at the body. Dan chuckled.

“Just some meatball that got run over by a semi.” Sam shuddered in disgust and waved him through. Once Dan had firmly shut the door and the guard left for the bathroom, Herbert whipped the sheet off and sat up. 

“Meatball,” he asked jokingly as he got to work putting his shoes on. “Examine the bodies; nothing too nasty.” Dan nodded and began to look over the tags. 

“ This one is rotten...bullet to the head...yuck...” Dan went through four or five bodies before coming across a rather large one in decent condition. “Okay, this one says that he died of heart failure this morning-”

“YES,” Herbert exclaimed, rushing over. “I think he is our man. Grab the recorder and find my serum.” Herbert was clearly excited; “We’ll show them all Dan; don't worry, you will be back on your golden ticket in no time.” Dan brought the serum over and handed it to West, who was in his natural habitat as he looked at it closely and measured the dosage. “Start the recorder.”

“October 10th..um…”

“The time is 10:43 pm,” Herbert said in a hushed voice.

“10:43 pm. Cause of d-death i-is…” Dan cursed himself for shaking; as Herbert got closer to injecting the dosage, Dan worried about both outcomes. On one hand he would still have lost his scholarship and on the other they would have brought an actual person back to life. 

“Heart failure; come on Dan, focus.” Dan nodded. “I'm injecting 15 cc's of reagent.” Herbert carefully inserted the needle into the corpse to inject the dosage before taking a step back. “Come on…” After thirty seconds, Herbert had begun to pace and run a nervous hand through his hair. 

“Herbert it's okay, it's not your fault.” Dan watched as Herbert slammed a hand down on the table before picking his reagent up and filling his syringe to the brim. “What are you doing?!”

“Apparently the human dosage factor is unknown,” Herbert injected the rest of the green liquid into the man on the table. “I'll show you!! You disgusting plagiarist, I'll show y-ungg!” The tiny scientist was interrupted when a hand closed over his throat and the body shot up into a sitting position, screaming.

“Let go of him,” Dan yelled and tried to free his friend, only to be plucked off the ground by the other hand and thrown across the room. Herbert soon followed, his body slamming against the wall. The smaller man crumpled on the floor from the impact, moaning woozily.

            “Herbert, come on and stay awake for me,” Dan grabbed under Herbert's arms and pulled him off the floor. The reanimated corpse was smashing everything in sight, tools clanging on the floor and putting Dan more on edge. Blood poured from its mouth and painted the floor. Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door behind them and a familiar voice yelling in.

           “Cain, you and West are in very deep trouble! Come on out of there, or I will be forced to call the police,” Dean Halsey sounded angrier than Dan had ever heard him, which had been hardly ever; Herbert West seemed to have that effect on people. ”Open this door!” Herbert was currently slumping against Dan, making it hard for him to do anything about the monster rampaging toward them. Dan quickly pulled them both out of the way as the monster plowed through, completely unhinging the door and sending it forward onto their visitor. There was a horrifying crunch followed by Dean Halsey screamed as the monster lifted up the door and picked him off of the ground. Herbert nodded awake as Dean Halsey was slammed into the wall repeatedly. He pushed off of Dan and quickly ran to the cabinet, smashing it open and pulling out the bone saw.

              “Stand back Dan,” he ordered calmly, shoving the saw through the creature's chest. Dan watched in horror as blood splattered all over Herbert's body. Dean Halsey lay on the floor unmoving. Dan found his own body beginning to go into shock, but Herbert was far from traumatized.. “Help me get him onto the table,”Herbert called over, aggravated when there was no response. “Dan?”

                Dan pulled his knees to his chest, shaking his head,  “No...this is all my fault, I...should never..”

               Herbert rolled his eyes but did his best to comfort him, “Dan,” he knelt down. “We can bring him back to life! Please help me; I can't do it alone.”

               “I didn't sign up for this; I don't know how much I can help you.”

               “You signed up when you let me live in your house, Daniel. All I need from you right now is your muscle,” he cleared his throat after what he'd said. “Please.” Dan sat for another moment before nodding. The two of them were able to lift Halsey onto the table and Herbert worked faster this time with the injection. “Stop worrying Dan, we’re going to be okay.” Herbert rested his hand over Dan’s on the medical table, distracting the other man slightly from his thoughts. His hand was warm, a wonderful contrast to what surrounded them. Dan wanted to take the hand in his own but had to step back when Halsey began screaming like the man that had killed him. He eyed Herbert up hungrily and grabbed him by the shirt. Herbert cringed as the older man coughed blood up into his face and growled. Luckily for both of them, Halsey had already phoned security. Sam burst in with his flashlight up.

    “What is going on here,” the guard asked, surveying the mess of a room. Halsey dropped Herbert and cowered back into a corner, yelling unintelligibly. “What the hell…”

    “Dean Halsey,sir; he burst in here and started screaming at us rather irrationally,” Herbert stumbled over to Sam, covered in blood. 

    “And what’s that,” Sam asked, pointing at the corpse with the bone saw jutting from its back. 

    “Just a corpse sir; Halsey went mad and grabbed that thing. He just started cutting up that body. It was so awful,” Herbert shot the guard a wide-eyed look of innocence and distress. Sam cleared his throat.

    “Dean Halsey?” Halsey merely yelled in response. “I’m calling the police,” Sam left the room and Dan finally fell into the fetal position. His entire body shook; if any investigation were to be done, he would most likely be behind bars; then his medical career would definitely be over. 

    Herbert rubbed his shoulder, “You’re just in shock; don’t worry.” He showed Dan the recorder  and smirked before tucking it into his own pocket. “We have everything we need.”

    Halsey was put into a padded room and locked up until his condition could be determined. Hill looked in on him, planning his next course of action. “Oh Allen,” Hill sighed. “You poor mindless bastard; look what West has done to you.” Halsey yelled in response. “I know it was him; he’s brilliant. His work is real, Allen. Herbert West has somehow managed to conquer brain death. Don’t worry; I will take the discovery into my own hands and make sure it is used for the greater good,” he chuckled at the clueless look in Halsey’s eyes. “And I’ll make sure West knows his place for you; all the boy needs is a good spanking.” Something dark was in Hill’s eye as he taunted Halsey, beating on the glass and stirring him up. “I think I may do some exploratory surgery on your mind there, Allen. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

    Back at home, Herbert was pacing in the living room. Dan had a blanket draped over his shoulders, still recovering from the earlier incident. “We have work to do,” Herbert nodded. “A lot of work. Now, luckily the police accepted the explanation that Halsey went mad. Well, what else could they believe? The truth; that he died and came back? We did it, Dan!” Dan looked up at Herbert’s trembling body, the smaller was running his hands through his hair and he noticed the facial ticks with concern.

    “Herbert, are you okay?”

    “I’m fine! Would you quit asking about me and focus on the work for once?”

    “Alright...but can I just ask you a quick question first?”

    Herbert groaned, “What?”

    “How did this all start? When did you realize that this is what you wanted to do with your life?... Did you lose someone?”

    “I don’t think now is the time for my life exposition, Daniel!” Herbert stepped back, surprised by his own yelling. He looked lost, like he didn’t know how to even behave around people who cared about him and his well-being; maybe he hadn’t had anyone care for him before. The room was quiet for quite some time; Herbert fiddling with his hands and Dan looking at the floor. Finally, Dan shrugged the blanket from his shoulders and stood up, slowly reaching out his hand and running it through the other’s hair to soothe him. 

    “W-what are you doing,” Herbert squeaked quietly. Dan placed a hand under Herbert’s chin and tilted his head upward to look into his eyes. Slowly, Dan removed the glasses from his face and set them down on the small couch side table. Herbert squinted and made Dan smile; god, he really was gorgeous. Herbert’s breathing sped up when Dan took his face in both hands and brought their mouths together; his entire body stiffened and he was completely unresponsive to the kiss, which was worrisome.  
     
    Dan pulled back slowly, “Are you alright?” His question was answered when Herbert quickly grabbed Dan and kissed him, whimpering into Dan’s mouth. Dan hoisted Herbert up, grabbing under Herbert’s thighs and backing him up into the wall. Herbert could feel Dan’s growing arousal pressing against him and leaned his head back for Dan to attack his neck. “Fuck,” he groaned against Herbert’s warm skin. “I want to be inside you.” Herbert moaned in response.

    “D-Dan I don’t know if I can,” he said very quietly. “I’ve never done anything like this before. Even the..before...”

    “Wait, that was your first kiss?”

    Herbert nodded.

    “Well, we can take it as slow as you want to; I won’t force you into anyth-” his words were smothered by another frantic kiss.

    “No... I want it to be you. Daniel, I can’t think of any other person that has made me feel the way that you do. In our line of work, we never know when a day may be our last; that is, without my reagent.”

Dan chuckled, “ That is very true. Well Mr. West, I guess the doctor will see you now.” He lifting an honest-to-god-giggling Herbert West and carried him back into the bedroom he used to make love with Meg in. It had been months since the bed was used for such purposes and Dan realized how deprived he had felt the last few weeks especially. Without his glasses, Herbert looked much younger; Dan had to pinch himself at the realization that he was about to take Herbert West’s virginity. He gently lowered Herbert onto the bed and worked at undoing the buttons of his shirt. Once Herbert was stripped down to his briefs and blushing on the pillow, Dan prepared himself for what was about to happen. “Just let me know if it hurts,” he whispered and pressed a small kiss to Herbert’s nose before pushing in slowly. Herbert had a death grip on his arm. Dan held still to let Herbert adjust and groaned at how tight he was; it was like heaven on earth being inside of the little scientist. 

Everyone back at the medical school knew Herbert as the uptight little prick who would send you a glare if you so much as looked at him wrong, but if they could see him now; panting and beginning to moan out Dan’s name, doing his best to turn his face back into the pillow and hide himself, they wouldn’t believe how gorgeous he was. Once Dan had found the spot that made Herbert scream, he pounded into it as hard as he could. “C-come for me, baby,” he groaned and nipped at Herbert’s neck, feeling his climax approaching. Herbert sobbed and cried out, burying his face in Dan’s neck as he came. Dan soon followed and collapsed bonelessly next to his roommate. Herbert stared up at the ceiling and Dan looked over over at him; a small stream of light had broken through the window and rested on his face. Herbert looked back and actually gave Dan a small smile before curling up to him and sighing. 

“Wow, I haven’t broken you have I,” Dan joked and rubbed small circles into the other’s back.

“I had a puppy,” Herbert said quietly.

“What?”

“My puppy, Sprinky... He got hit by a car when I was seven...I used to lay awake at night and cry because my mother told me he was never coming back. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah...yeah it does.” Dan felt Herbert nodding off to sleep and pulled him close. “Good night Herbert.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is general creepiness and attempted rape in this chapter. Be mindful of the changed warnings, but if you've seen Reanimator, you generally expected it.

The next morning, Dan awoke to an empty bed that was still warm where his companion had been laying. He furrowed his brow and stretched, glancing around the room in confusion. A slight whimper was heard from the bathroom and Dan got up to make sure Herbert was alright. Opening the bathroom door, he saw West sitting on the edge of the bathtub with one of the syringes in his hand, filled with reagent. It appeared that he was trying to inject the stuff into himself. His whole body was trembling and his hand shook uncontrollably.

    “D-Dan,” Herbert choked out. “P-Please help me..”

    “Jesus, Herbert; you’re actually-”

    “No, no; it’s just a weak solution so I don’t have to sleep. I have to keep the brain sh-sharp,” he held the solution up to Dan, almost unable to keep hold of it. 

    “No, I’m not doing this; it’s sick and unhealthy.”

    “I NEED IT,” Herbert yelled, making Dan jump. “Daniel, please..” the break in his voice compromised him and Dan ripped the vial and syringe from West’s hand,  grabbing his arm angrily. After injecting the stuff, Herbert shot to his feet. “I have to get back to work immediately. Last night’s discovery changes everything; there are no longer any questions to what we are able to achieve. We did it Dan...my whole life’s work has lead up to this. Come down to the lab; I could use your assistance.”

    “Herbert, I have to sleep; some of us aren’t ruining our bodies with chemicals just to stay awake,” Dan didn’t mean to sound as hostile as he did, but caring for Herbert West wasn’t going to be an easy feat ever. 

    “Oh please, explain coffee then,” Herbert huffed, but sat back down on the tub and played with his hands. “I saw that picture of Meg in your dresser, do you still love her?”

    Dan sighed, “It’s kind of hard to explain. When you’re in a relationship with someone for so long, it’s hard to stop caring completely. Does it bother you?”

    “No no no, you can feel anyway you’d like; we are simply lab partners, it really isn’t my business.” This statement took Dan aback, but he nodded. “Dan, I think there’s something you should know about me; I just don’t want you to hear it from someone else. I know when we met you wanted to ask me about Hans Gruber; he was quite the hero of mine. Dr. Gruber had a heart attack during one of our research sessions and died. I saw it as an opportunity for a trial run of my serum on an actual living person; mind you, it was my first one. I spent hours running tests on his body. When he finally came back, he began to scream in agony and the police barged in and tore me away from him. His eyes..they burst out of his head. The dosage was too large. I spent weeks in psychiatric evaluation; they would strap me to a chair and run tests on my mind. Eventually, I had to lie on the evaluation test to be released and allowed to return to school. That’s why I left Switzerland.” Dan was quiet; he wasn’t sure how to respond. Despite knowing that Herbert was indeed mentally unstable to an extent, the only reaction he had was anger toward the doctors that tested on him. He’s heard horror stories of that branch of the medical field involving wires and electrocution. 

There was a pause before Herbert spoke again. “Did last night really happen?” Dan pulled him close and wrapped an arm around his waist, tilting Herbert’s face toward him and planting a kiss on his lips.

    “That answer your question,” he smirked. “ I know you aren’t crazy Herbert; I know that you’re passionate about all this and that you didn’t murder Gruber like some people say you did. We can forget all about the past and look to the future.” Herbert sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh Herbert, there was something I needed to tell you about regarding Hill; I was in his classroom the other day and he had a picture of you in his desk drawer.” Herbert raised an eyebrow.

    “Okay? What am I supposed to say about that Dan; the man is clearly jealous of my work and wants to know everything about me and how I did it. I’m serious though Dan, I need to get back down to the basement and continue.”

    “It was weird though, Herbert; he had a bunch of used tissues with it and I want you to be careful. I don’t want to worry you, but I think he might be a creep.”

    “Consider me not worried Dan; the man is all talk and no action. I mean, look at all his research; it was clearly plagiarized. He is just jealous; he acts like he invented the wheel.”

    “And you actually did,” Dan teased, nipping at Herbert’s neck.

    “Yes I did,” Herbert grinned at the feeling of teeth on his throat and pulled Dan with him onto the floor. For once, Herbert had something on his mind other than science and it was a much-needed distraction. Dan squeaked when his back hit the cold tiles and shook his head.

    “Brrrr, no you don’t,” he growled, lifting Herbert up and carrying him quickly back to bed. Herbert was practically licking his face when Dan reached onto the bedside table to turn the stereo on like he used to do with Meg. Herbert straddled him and ripped open the front of Dan’s boxers, pulling him out and taking all of him into his mouth. “Holy shit, you catch on fast! F-fuck..” The smooth guitar shrouded the sound of the hallway floor creaking as an unwanted visitor put his ear to the bedroom door and listened. Herbert slid his mouth off of Dan with a ‘pop’ and straddled him again before slowly sliding himself down onto Dan’s length. Dan groaned and gripped the small waist as Herbert began to ride him. He cursed himself for making the comparison, but Herbert was a lot like Meg used to be in bed; he was an incredibly vocal lover and it drove Dan absolutely wild. “ Y-yeah come on and ride that, baby.”

    “You a-are ridiculous giving me pet names,” Herbert rolled his eyes and continued bouncing. “My twin brother might like that though.”

    “Holy fuck, you have a twin!? Any chance I can get both of y-”

    “NO.”

    The visitor outside the door slightly cracked it open to look inside, getting a rear view of the action; neither of the participants saw nor heard the intrusion. Dan ran his hands down Herbert’s back and smacked his rather full ass as the smaller man sped up and began to scream Dan’s name. The voyeur licked his lips and shut the door quietly. As soon as the sex was finished, Herbert was up and moving. 

    “No. More. Distractions,” he said firmly. “If you come downstairs without every intention of helping, I will withhold this activity from you until the end of time.”

“Testy, testy,” Dan shook his head. “ So, a twin brother huh? What’s he like?”

    “He is nothing like me; he is a self-proclaimed ‘scientist’ however. He studies the pineal gland or something silly like that. We can talk about my family later.”

“Okay, I promise I won’t bother you, but I’m getting kinda hungry; do you want me to run out and get us food or something?”

    “I suppose I’ve worked up a little bit of an appetite, why not,” he shrugged and got dressed. “Did you ever happen to hear what they did to Halsey after they took him away last night?”

    “No, nothing at all; I know they detained him but that’s it.”

    “I’m surprised they aren’t running any sort of tests,” Herbert slid his glasses on, thinking. “I wonder if Hill knows about what happened. He would never believe the truth; he’s too close minded.”

    “Well, you’re involved; so I’m sure he’s found out about it,” Herbert slapped Dan’s arm. “Sorry, I’m off to the store now; have fun working.”

    The basement seemed especially cold after sharing such a warm bed all night, but Herbert made a hot cup of tea and endured for science. The house was silent albeit Herbert’s pencil to paper until the stairs to the basement began to creak. Herbert spun quickly to find Carl Hill smiling at him, his teeth glowing in the shadow. Herbert’s fear turned to anger quickly when he identified the visitor. 

    “What do you want,” he snapped.

    “ I want to know why Halsey’s heart fibrillates..”

    “I don’t have to talk to you-”

    “Why his pulse is erratic..”

    “I’ve told all I know to the police!”

    “..why he cries out in pain when we both know he is quite dead,” Hill grinned. “I know what you’ve done... and I want your discovery; whatever it is that gives the dead the appearance of life.” This angered Herbert and he huffed.

    “It is not the appearance of life, it IS life; this is not magic. As you say, I am a scientist,” Hill came toward him slowly, backing him into the table and getting in his face.

    “I could have you locked up for a madman...or a murderer. That could depend on how tonight goes,” Hill put a hand on Herbert’s shoulder and Herbert slapped it away.

    “Don’t touch me! What do you mean ‘how tonight goes?’ You aren’t getting my notes so you may as well turn around and get the hell out of my house.” Hill shook his head.

    “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Mr. West,” Hill snapped, shoving Herbert back onto the table and grabbed him by the throat. Herbert struggled as Hill forced his mouth open and slid his fingers in. Herbert bit down hard on Hill’s hand and kicked him back, rolling off the table and running for the door. A gunshot through the ceiling stopped the young man in his tracks. “Why won’t you let me touch you like he does,” Hill said in a voice dripping with lust and madness. Herbert was frozen in place as Hill came up behind him and pressed the cold gun to the back of his neck in warning. “I don’t want to shoot you, so how about you stop running from me.” Herbert shut his eyes tightly and clenched his fists as the doctor walked him over to the desk and grabbed Herbert’s notebook off of it, flipping through the pages with wide-eyed fascination. “This is just as brilliant as I knew it would be, Mr. West,” he said, circling Herbert with a smile. “You will be my assistant..and we will work very closely-” Hill ran a hand slowly down Herbert’s arm. “-together. And I will reveal, to an astonished world, my. New. Serum.” Hill gripped the notebook tightly, looking off into the distance. Herbert’s mind was racing trying to come up with a plan, but he felt trapped. “They will retire the nobel prize in my name and the rumors will circulate about my beautiful assistant,” he chuckled. “...But that still leaves Cain.” 

    “No…”

    “He will have to disappear,” Hill hissed. “And he will never again touch what is mine.” His? Herbert glared up at the larger man. He wanted to fight; he wanted to kick and scream and claw Hill’s eyes out, but he wouldn’t stand a chance. 

    “Yes...yes he will,” West choked out, nodding. “We will need to get rid of him if I can be your assistant. What exactly are my duties as assistant,” Herbert asked naively, glancing at the shovel in the back of the room. 

    “Well, you would take notes of course and make sure I am always satisfied. I may give you little..tasks to do now and then.” Herbert was hypothetically backed into a corner, the gun still in Hill’s hand and that dangerous look in his eye. 

    “You want me, Dr. Hill,” Herbert asked quietly. “Just take me now…” The older man pointedly pressed the gun to Herbert’s forehead as a reminder that he still had it, but grinned and gestured to the desk. Herbert laid back onto it and stared at the ceiling as Hill unbuckled his own pants and leaned over his body. He bit his lip and shut his eyes and Hill mimicked the way Dan would kiss his neck. Before Hill could forcibly pry his legs open, Herbert’s knee shot up and hit his balls. Hill doubled over in pain and Herbert shoved him with all the force he could muster before running over and grabbing the shovel. Hill growled and reached for his gun, but Herbert lunged and hit him over the head with the shovel, sending him to the floor. “You disgusting plagiarist,” Herbert yelled, turning the shovel over and slamming it down into Hill’s neck. “Fuck. You!” He twisted the shovel until Hill’s head rolled away from his body, lifeless. Herbert felt his heart beating fast. He stared down at Hill’s head; Dan had been right. Wait, where was Dan; it certainly was taking him awhile to go to the supermarket and here Herbert was with a dead body. 

    “Yesss,” Herbert grabbed Hill’s head off the floor and placed it in the medical tray on his desk. “Maybe you could be useful to me, Dr. Hill; I’ve never done whole parts before.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More very creepy creepiness; be mindful that we have arrived at THAT SCENE in the movie. Thank you so much for reading. I apologize for the short chapter, I'm getting small windows to write with LIFE. UGH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://lexkitten97.tumblr.com/post/156699633643/jeffrey-combs-high-school-yearbook-photo-if
> 
> This is the photo I had in mind for Herbert's yearbook picture ^-^

    Dan really had planned on going to the supermarket, he really had; but due to his own dreadful curiosity he ended up back at the school. Now that Halsey was in his current state, Dan wasn’t too worried about getting kicked out. He’d asked at the front desk about what was going on with the dean, only to find out that he was in Hill’s care.

    “They have him in a padded room in Doctor Hill’s office,” the receptionist said, reading through the report. “Apparently, Doctor Hill is planning an exploratory surgery on him to find out what’s wrong. I would phone him if you had questions, but he’s already left for the night. I go home in ten minutes too, but if you’d like to leave him a message” she checked her watch preparing for the longest ten minutes of her life.

    “No, thank you; I appreciate your help,” Dan smiled politely and made his way back down the hallway. The school was eerily quiet and unsettling, but so were a lot of things in Dan’s life. Hill’s office door had been left ajar, practically inviting him in. After checking to make sure the hallway was deserted, Dan entered and shut the door quietly behind him. The room was dark, lit only by a small desk lamp. He walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer to find Herbert’s file sitting directly on top. He took it out and opened it; it had expanded since the last time he’d glaced at it. Along with the newspaper clippings, there were photos of Herbert from high school; his yearbook photo, along with pictures from his school science fair. A slight sticky residue coated a corner of the yearbook photo and Dan found himself seething.

 

    “Sick fucker-” Dan slammed the file shut and put it under his arm. Further observing the room, he noticed that there was indeed a window looking into a padded room, but the room was currently empty. Blood coated one of the walls in the room, proving that Halsey had been in there at one point, but where would they move him in his condition. Where was he? And why had Hill left the school so early?

    “Herbert,” Dan breathed out and quickly made a run for the door. He had to get home. 

 

Doctor Hill opened his eyes to an eager Herbert West staring at him with a pencil and paper in his hand. The scientist had injected both Hill’s body and head with the serum, hoping to expand his knowledge of reanimation; if he could bring single parts back, it opened so many doors regarding whether or not consciousness resided in every part of the body. When he saw Carl Hill respond, his heart leapt. Hill let out a low growling noise, and Herbert leaned forward. “Doctor, it’s Herbert West. What are you thinking? How do you feel?” A grumble and another growl. “Say something,” he snapped.

“Weesssssssst,” Herbert nodded, jotting it down. 

“Yes!?”

“Yooooou li-ttle biiiiitch,” Hill hissed. Herbert glared and was about to retaliate when Hill’s headless body grabbed him from behind, slamming his head hard off of the desk. Herbert’s body fell to the floor unconscious and Hill directed a whistle upstairs, where Halsey had been told to stay put. There was a hole in Halsey’s head from where Hill had lobotomized him, turning him into a mindless puppet that he could control. Halsey groaned and began to descend the stairs, only to trip and fall down all of them before getting back up without blinking.

“Bumbling buffoon,” Hill rolled his eyes. “Grab him and follow me.” Hill’s body plucked his head out of the tray Herbert had set it in and gestured again for Halsey to pick Herbert up. Once Herbert was flung over Halsey’s shoulder, Hill grinned and lead him out the front door, but not before grabbing Herbert’s tote bag. “Quickly; we must make ourselves scarce before that fool Cain comes back.”

Mere minutes after the house was deserted, Dan bolted in and downstairs to find the basement empty. “Goddamnit!!” Dan punched the wall. “Herbert are you here!?” The chair Herbert had been sitting on was on the floor beside a noticeably prominent blood stain. Dan was trying to prevent an oncoming panic attack as he stared at it, putting his hand over his mouth; if Hill had hurt West in any way, he was not going to make it out alive. Dan clenched his fist, trying to think of what the older man’s next move would be. Dan would try the school first and, if he wasn't there, Dan would be sure to get an address and make a house call. He noticed that Herbert’s bag was also missing and quickly went upstairs and looked in Herbert’s room, knowing he kept some of it in his small refrigerator. He breathed a sigh of relief at the remaining work and shoved it into his school bag for emergency purposes.

“On the table,” Hill’s head hissed to Halsey. His head was now placed in a new medical tray and his body was squirting blood bags into it to keep it nourished. Halsey laid Herbert down on the cold metal operating table and removed his now-cracked glasses. West was still completely out-cold from the bump on the head and Hill admired his peaceful face. “Undress him,” Hill barked at Halsey, grinning lecherously. Halsey mindlessly grabbed the collar of Herbert’s shirt and ripped it open starting from the top, then proceeded tearing it off of him. Once Herbert had been stripped bare, Hill strapped him to the surface he was resting on. Hill’s head looked over Herbert’s body from the medical tray, tongue practically wagging. His hands reached out, running down Herbert’s sides and caressing under him. Herbert arched his back and moaned absently before slowly opening his eyes and looking around. 

“You filthy bastard, get your hands off of me,” he yelled and began to fight against the restraints, which were firmly in place. Hill ran a hand over his stomach and laughed before picking his own head up from the medical tray and holding it to Herbert’s face. The blood dripping on Herbert’s skin felt cold along with the metal against his bare back. He glowered at the head, trying not to let his fear control him. 

“Give me a kiss, my love,” Hill hissed and pressed his mouth to Herbert, smearing blood along the younger man’s chin. Herbert bit down on Hill’s lip and the man tsked. “You’re being a very bad boy, but I’m willing to forgive you.” Hill licked the side of Herbert’s face before beginning to travel down his chest and to his stomach, licking at the inside of his belly button. Herbert was about to break, looking down at Hill’s eyes on him. 

“Pl-please stop,” Herbert whimpered. 

“Relax baby, you’ll enjoy yourself,” Hill mouthed at Herbert’s length before delving lower between his legs. This is when Herbert began to scream. The unwanted intrusion reduced him to a sobbing mess by the time the doors swung open and Herbert’s sobs turned to those of relief. Dan stood there with Herbert’s bag over his shoulder and a dangerous look in his eye. 

“Mr. Cain,” Hill’s head retracted from between Herbert’s legs. “I’m actually glad to see you; it saves me the trouble of having to send for you.”

“You’ll never get credit for my discover,” Herbert sneered from the table, jerking his one wrist free. “Who’s going to believe a talking head; get a job in a sideshow.”

“I wonder why an intelligent young man like yourself has the audacity of coming here to challenge me,” Hill leered at Dan. “We were just getting to the good part.”

“How dare you lay your hands on him,” Dan said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you worry, I have a plan.”

    “So...do….I,” at that moment, all of the bodies in the morgue sat up from under their bags. They growled and squealed as they were brought to life; Hill had used both Herbert’s serum and lobotomy to create his own army of mindless zombies. Herbert was still trying to undo the fastenings on his other wrist. The couple was officially in trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick chapter to wrap up the film storyline, but more to come. Be sure to read end notes and thank you for sticking with me through this. ^-^

Herbert pulled at his other fastening frantically as they zombies headed toward him. A rather gruesome looking one whose jaw hung open and squirted blood grabbed at Herbert’s leg before receiving a swift kick to the face. “Dan, I can’t get free, they’re everywhere!” His other hand was trying to unfasten the buckle, but kept having to fend off the oncoming attack. Dan was doing the same all while keeping Herbert’s bag at his side. 

“How do we stop them,” Dan yelled. “We can’t exactly kill them all again, can we?” Herbert pulled his other wrist free, which was heavily marked. He tried to think, before he was grabbed around the throat and thrown into a table of tools. One of the scalpels left a small slit on his forehead and he fell to the floor. 

    “Herbert!”

    “H-how much reagent did you give them you uneducated bastard,” Herbert stumbled up and spit at Hill before having a lightbulb moment. “Dan, throw me my research!” Herbert looked down and saw his shirt lying on the floor, quickly throwing it on to cover himself. Dan hesitated, but threw the bag to Herbert. The small scientist wasted no time in opening the bag and pulling out a couple of the syringes.

    “Herbert, what are you doing,” Dan called as he fought off the monsters grabbing at his face and biting him. Herbert was too busy thinking to respond; he glared at Hill, whose eyes were once again locked on him from across the room.

    “Subdue him and end Daniel Cain,” Hill ordered his army; it was clear that as he looked at Herbert, the look in the young man’s eye was worrying him. Herbert smirked in response and his eyes challenged the older man.

    “Over my dead body...OVERDOSE,” West yelled before going to town and shoving both needles into one of the zombies. The creature made a ravenous noise and grabbed West by the shoulders before its head promptly exploded. “Dan follow my lead!”

    Hill hissed, “Herbert, you don’t want to make me use force on you. If you put those down and surrender to me, I will not harm you.”

    Herbert scoffed and shook his head. “Not a chance; I would rather fight than be your slave and ‘partner’ in science. You are nothing but an old, perverted poser; you find out the key to life itself and the first thing that you do is try to take advantage of me. You’re disgusting, and I will never love or respect you.” 

    Hill had an ominous vacant expression on his face as he looked at Herbert. The zombies had Dan by the arms and held him still as the room went silent. “You think that you are superior, Mr. West? I have discovered a laser-surgical drill that makes possible a new technique in lobotomy; it results in total mastery of the human will!” Dan was dropped and the creatures descended upon Herbert, all grabbing him and pulling him toward the table that Hill’s head was now placed on. “You will do what I want you to for the rest of eternity!” Herbert was thrown roughly onto the table. Hill’s body had the laser drill in its hand and pointed it at Herbert’s forehead, holding it in place. Herbert felt the heat of the laser on his forehead and began to squirm. “You will be mine,” Hill grinned.

    Dan clenched his fists and pulled all his courage, running over to the tool tray and grabbing a surgical hammer in one hand and Herbert’s research in the other. “Son of a bitch!” Hill ordered for a couple of the zombies to subdue Dan but they got a vengeful hammer to the head. 

    “D-Dan,” Herbert whimpered. “The head...quickly…” His vision began to blur and he felt like he was either going to faint or panic. Dan ran over to the table and backhanded one of the needles into one of the creatures holding Herbert down before taking both of the needles and shoving them into Carl Hill’s head.

    “Try coming back from this,” Dan pushed down on both the syringes and injected the fluid into a cursing, ravenous Hill. Hill’s body dropped the laser drill as it stumbled about. Herbert sat up and watched as Carl Hill’s eyes bulged from his head and exploded; watching it took him back to when he had watched Gruber die, but the effect on him was totally different.

    “Even a plagiarist in death,” Herbert scoffed. He ran over to Dan and grabbed his arm, “We have to get out of here now!” Dan nodded in agreement and they headed for the door. “Wait! My work,” Herbert ran back for his bag, kneeling down beside what appeared to be Hill’s body; it was shaking and flailing its arms, and Herbert watched in amazement. Suddenly, the body  burst open and its intestines shot out, wrapping themselves around Herbert’s throat. He screamed under the horrible slimy things that were now wrapped around his face. They wound down around him body to hold him, slipping up under the bottom of his shirt and between his legs as they strangled him. He squirmed and yelled, but felt himself quickly losing consciousness. 

    “HERBERT,” Dan yelled and grabbed a knife. He ran over and carefully, so he didn’t hurt Herbert, began to slice into what was left of Hill. The body spasmed as the intestines were cut open, soaking both Dan and Herbert in blood. When Dan was finished freeing Herbert, he saw the red marking around his throat from where he had been strangled. “Come on buddy, we have to go...Herbert,” he shook his small lover to no response. “Herbert!” He felt for a pulse point and found nothing. “No no no…” He picked Herbert up in both arms and carried his limp body out of the room and down the hall to Emergency. He was greeted by the surprised, confused faces of his colleagues. They got him into a room immediately and laid Herbert’s body on the table, ripping his shirt open. 

    Dan heard voices that seemed distant in his head. A doctor saying that they needed to work face and pressing the cold metal to Herbert and jolting him body over and over with no response. He was gone. Dan felt a few comforting pats on his back before the room cleared out. He walked over and looked at his friend’s peaceful unworried face, caressing it with his hand slowly. His body began to shake with sobs, and he laid his head down on Herbert’s unmoving chest. Dan turned his head to the side and stared blankly at the wall. He looked back to the door to make sure no one was coming before taking out a syringe he had held onto in his back pocket. He lifted Herbert’s head gently and looked at him serenely. "I love you.." He inserted the needle into the back of Herbert's neck and waited.. 

    He waited. Herbert’s body was so pale in death that Dan couldn’t stare without losing it. When his body regained color and he opened his eyes, Dan tensed. “Herbert...how do you feel?” Herbert sighed and stretched like someone waking up to sunshine. He smiled over at Dan and the needle in his hand.

    “That’s a good look for you, Mr. Cain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to continue this in a series of types, but now all plots are fair game. I have so much I want to do with these two <3


End file.
